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Hi Family and Friends,
Today was an exciting day in Haiti and in the Foursquare Church.
A team of 10 is here that originates from the Eastern District, but has people from as far west as Oklahoma. Today was their first day on the job; half of them went to the church to work with some of the Haitian workers and the other half drove over to Petion-ville to work on Pastor Roseinel’s house. He is the associate pastor, assisting Pastor Guy at L’egliz Evangelique Quadragulaire (Foursquare).

working together

Pastor Roseinel’s house was destroyed during the earthquake. Foursquare Relief helped him clear the property of debris and hire some Haitian masons to partially erect some outside walls for a new home. Presently, his family of six, lives in a tent on the foundation of the house.  I had the privilege of tagging along to take a few pictures and act as John’s “ambassador” to work through details with Pastor.
The team arrived and they jumped into work alongside 2 Haitian workers laying block. Roseinel was thrilled.
Progress on these types of projects can be seen quickly, because they are simple and small. The house is only 3 rooms plus a tiny bathroom. Imagine a walk in linen closet.
The wall went up in record time. Clifford, a union mason from Oklahoma, never stopped working, and the other guys were right there with him, plugging along, block after block.
The team leader, Scott and I chatted with Roseinel about details of where to put the kitchen, living  and eating areas, which are all together.
I wondered if he would know what a breakfast bar was, so we took a stab at it and tried to explain. At first he didn’t understand, and Scott decided to sketch it out for him. As he drew, I attempted to expand on the benefits of “bars”.  That was a difficult sell.
As Scott finished the drawing and showed it to Roseinel, a light went on, and
Pastor Roseinel had an “aha” moment. He was so excited that he could have a breakfast bar.  He began to exclaim in his broken English,”oh, I can study my Bible right there, my girls can do their homework there, they can eat snacks there. Oh, I love you Debbie, I love you Scott!”
It makes my heart hurt, even as I write this. To think that something so simple could bring so much joy to a grown man is unbelievable in the world I come from. I’ve never really stopped to thank the Lord for my breakfast bar.  Thank you, Lord from the bottom of my heart.
As the day progressed and the Haitian and US team laid the first blocks for the bar, it was time to wrap it up and head home. Roseinel said he wanted to keep this a secret from his wife, who was at work, as a housekeeper, so she would be surprised, but he said to Scott and me to make sure we did not forget the plan.
We all returned home with a deep sense of humility and joy for the awesome privilege of helping this precious family.

The Team - Pastor Roseinel on left with a big smile

I’ll keep you posted on the progress and be sure to send you pictures of the finished product.
Spread the word that there is a blog from Base Camp that gets posted several times a week and includes perspectives from Base Camp and team members. It’s foursquarehaiti.wordpress.com
Thank you for all your support and prayers. It means so much.
And thank you US Foursquare Church! Your super generous giving to FMI has enabled all of us to do these kinds of wonderful things for our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much.  We’re doing this together.
I love you all
Debbie

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